Visalia Mall finalizes lease for new shoe store

Visalia Mall has finalized a 3,500 square-foot lease to Shiekh Shoes, LLC. Shiekh Shoes is currently under construction in the space near Macy’s. The store will carry high heels, pumps, booties, boots, wedges, sandals for women and a large selection of men’s dress and casual shoes, sneakers, clothing and more.

The anticipated opening of the store is planned for Dec. 1.

Shiekh Shoes has 134 locations including on Mooney Boulevard at the former Copeland Sports building.

After a spike of 50 cents in the past three weeks, gasoline prices in California are finally heading lower by a couple of pennies.

The drop comes as there is a worldwide glut in oil, which is selling today at $48 a barrel, lowest since March. But in California, gasoline sellers are making a killing with refinery profits at $1.17 a gallon according to energy commission figures.

“California refineries reaped an average of 49.3 cents on a gallon of gasoline from 1999 to 2014, according to the California Energy Commission. But this year, the average ballooned to 88.8 cents, triggered when refinery troubles in February disabled 7 percent of the state’s capacity at a time of low inventories,” according to an LA Times report.

In Los Angeles, gasoline prices currently stand at $4.25 per gallon, over a $1.50 more than the nationwide average, by far the largest gap in recorded history. Across the state, prices average $3.89 per gallon, $1.10 more than the national average.

“When oil refiners are taking home a record $1.17 per gallon, it’s very clear that they are the source of Californian’s pain at the pump and the beneficiaries of the billions more Californians are paying for their gasoline,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.

The lowest price in Visalia this week was at Costco at $3.15 a gallon, compared to state average of $3.84 Thursday.

Diesel a bargain compared to gasoline

From August 2009 through June of this year retail diesel has been selling for an average of 34 cents more a gallon compared to gasoline. Not so today in our topsy turvy world. Today, the globe has plenty of diesel fuel. In California, where the average gas price today is $3.84 a gallon — diesel is selling for as cheap as $2.67 a gallon in Tulare this week. The price break is a boon to farmers and truckers who count on the fuel to pull loads and run their machines.

Youngs Transfer plans new Tipton facility

Youngs Commercial Transfer will set up a six-acre truck yard in Tipton, just south of the citrus plant on Highway 99.The Porterville company specializes in transport of ag products around the Valley.

Porterville bank net up 8 percent

Sierra Bancorp (Nasdaq: BSRR), parent of Bank of the Sierra announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter and the six-month period ending June 30, 2015. Sierra Bancorp recognized net income of $4.557 million for the second quarter of 2015, an improvement of $320,000, or 8 percent, relative to the second quarter of 2014.

The increase in net income is the result of higher net interest income driven by a large increase in average interest-earning assets, a lower loan loss provision, and improvement in non-interest income, partially offset by higher overhead expense and a higher tax accrual.

Tulare County home sales up 8 percent

Tulare County homes sales in June jumped 11.55 percent month-over-month and were up 8 percent year-over-year. The median price was $194,170 — up 10 percent from a year ago when it was $176,000.